Book Markers 07.04.13

A Summer of Friday Authors
There are readings, and then there are readings at which you can wipe your mouth of a toothsome hors d’oeuvre, rise from your folding chair, and direct a question of your choosing at the author in attendance, plastic tumbler of chardonnay in hand.
Such is Fridays at Five at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, the popular series known for its book signings, question-and-answer gabfests, and shade courtesy of a massive Norway maple — to say nothing of the traditionally strong lineups. This year’s starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. with the four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, who will talk about “Golden Age” and other plays. Admission is $15. Books of five tickets are available for $60.
On Friday, July 12, the series continues with Lily Koppel and her brand-new one, “The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story.” July 19 brings the Southampton crime writer Chris Knopf and “Dead Anyway,” and then on July 26 it’s Peter M. Wolf reading from his new memoir, “My New Orleans, Gone Away.”
The first four Fridays in August will have Eric Fischl (“Bad Boy: My Life On and Off the Canvas”), Morton and Joan Hamburg (“Commitment”), Bridgehampton’s own James Salter (“All That Is”), and MaryAnn Calendrille and Kathryn Szoka of Canio’s Books (“Sag Harbor Is: A Literary Celebration”).

Return of the Poetry Marathon
Grace Schulman of Springs, the real deal among poets (and one who is profiled elsewhere in The Star this week), will open the season’s Poetry Marathon on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Marine Museum on Bluff Road in Amagansett. She has a new collection due out in September from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, “Without a Claim.” Joining her in reading will be Sandra Langer, who writes art criticism as well as poetry.
The series, produced by Sylvia Chavkin and held weekly through Aug. 11, is free and offers refreshments at receptions following the readings. The other poetic duos in store are Carole Stone and Janice Bishop, Alex Russo and Virginia Walker, Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan and Ted Hartley, Patty Noble and Gloria Beckerman, and Monica Enders and Teri Kennedy.